Javier Alonso Luis Fernández de Lugo (?-1525)
was a Spanish military man, conquistador, city founder, and administrator. He
conquered the islands of La
Palma (1492-1493) and Tenerife (1494-1496) for the Castilian
Crown; they were the last of the Canary Islands to be conquered by
Europeans. He was also the founder of the towns of San Cristóbal de La Laguna
and Santa Cruz de La Palma. One
biographer has written that his personality was a “terrible mixture
of cruelty and ambition or greed, on one part, and on the other a
great capacity and sense for imposing order and government on
conquered lands,” a trait found in the conquistadors of the New World.[1]

Nothing much is known of his youth.[1]
He enlisted in the navy and ended up achieving the rank of Adelantado and Captain
General of the African coasts.
In 1478, he participated in the conquest of Gran Canaria under the command of Juan Rejón. Later,
he fought alongside Pedro de Vera, Rejón's successor as governor of
Gran Canaria, who conferred on him command of the castle of Agaete on the island of Gran
Canaria.[1]

Conquest of
La Palma

Church of Santo Domingo, Santa Cruz de la Palma. Built on
foundations of hermitage of San Miguel (Saint Michael) founded by
Fernández de Lugo on May 14, 1506. Saint Michael is the
patron saint of Flanders, where many
colonists in La Palma originated.

He returned to Spain to solicit financial aid from the Crown to
conquer Tenerife and La Palma. He was named governor of La Palma
and granted 700,000 maravedis with the condition that he
conquer the island within a year.[1]

The conquest of La Palma began on September 29, 1492, when
Fernández de Lugo landed on the beaches of Tazacorte. He encountered fierce resistance
from some Guanches chiefs
there.[1]
However, the menceys, or Guanche kings, of La Palma
surrendered in April 1493, with the exception of Tanausu, who ruled the area known as Acero
(Caldera de Taburiente).[1]

However, Tanausu was ambushed and captured in May 1493 after
agreeing to a truce arranged by Fernández de Lugo and Juan de
Palma, a Guanche who had converted to Christianity and who was a relative of
Tanausu. The conquest of La Palma was completed on May 3, 1493. He
left the administration of La Palma in the hands of his nephew
Juan, and planned the conquest of Tenerife.[1]

Conquest of
Tenerife

During the conquest of Tenerife, he suffered a severe defeat at
the First Battle of Acentejo (May
31, 1494). At the First Battle of Acentejo, Fernández de Lugo,
though wounded, had been able to escape with his life only by
exchanging the red cape of an Adelantado for that of a common
soldier. An additional detail from that battle, however, was that a
rock thrown at Fernández de Lugo's head by a Guanche resulted in
his losing most of his teeth.[2]

By October 1495, he had gathered together a second, larger army,
and received assistance from the Duke of Medina
Sidonia and other nobles. Humiliated and cautious after the
First Battle of Acentejo, which had been disastrous for the
Spaniards, Fernández de Lugo had advanced gradually across the
island, building and rebuilding forts. The expedition, which Lugo
had funded with the sale of all of his properties, had landed at
Añazo, where he built two towers on the spot where he had
constructed his first fort before his prior defeat. He had more
experienced troops under his command -these included 1,000 foot
soldiers, veterans of the conquest of Granada, lent to him by the Duke of Medina Sidonia. Fernández de Lugo
also had the support of Ferdinand and Isabella, who had given him
ten more months to complete his conquest of the Canaries. During
this time of regrouping, he also captured many slaves in the area.
With this better-planned military strategy, he achieved victory
over the Guanches of Tenerife at the Battle of Aguere (November 14-15,
1494) and the Second Battle of Acentejo
(December 25, 1494).

After the
Conquest

He was named governor and chief justice of both Tenerife and La
Palma, Captain General of the coast of Africa[3]. He was
named Adelantado on January 12, 1503, a title confirmed again by Charles I of Spain, in Barcelona, on August
17, 1519.[1]
It was an inherited title.[1]
The current Rightful Successor of the title "Adelantado of the
Canary Islands Tenerife and La Palma, Captain General of the coast
of Africa" is Felix Alberto Lugo III.[4]
Fernández de Lugo was given extensive powers over these islands,
since he had been financially responsible for their conquest. On La
Palma, he had control over the distribution of land and water.
Though he preferred to live on Tenerife, Fernández de Lugo reserved
the rich area of Los Sauces on La Palma, north of the island's
capital, for himself. His nephew and lieutenant received La Caldera
in 1502.

His rule as adelantado was characterized by extreme despotism and harsh rule,
and he treated the defeated Guanches like spoils of war.[1]
Legally, Guanches were regarded as being at the same level of Moors
–in other words, enemies of Christianity- and he sold many of them
into slavery. His treatment of his defeated subjects was so harsh
that Ferdinand and Isabella intervened, requesting that the
governor of Gran Canaria, Sánchez de Valenzuela, free some of the
Guanches who had been enslaved by his counterpart in Tenerife.[1]

On both islands, he exercised civil and criminal jurisdiction
and the right to appoint and dismiss judicial deputies, and also
had control over the disposition of slaves and inhabitants' entry
and exit from the islands. Fernández de Lugo also introduced
measures to limit the sale of land to create a permanent base of
settlers.[1]

He oversaw extension immigration to Tenerife and La Palma during
a short period from the late 1490s to the 1520s from mainland
Europe, and immigrants included Castilians, Portuguese, Italians, Catalans, Basques, and Flemings. At subsequent judicial enquiries,
Fernández de Lugo was accused of favoring Genoese and Portuguese immigrants over
Castilians.[5]

On Tenerife, he founded the town of San Cristóbal de La Laguna.
La Plaza del Adelantado and Calle Adelantado, in this town, are
named after him. A local legend states that upon the death of one
of his sons in the town, Fernández de Lugo ordered that the street
of La Carrera be made twisted rather than straight so that he would
not have to see the site of his son's death from his residence.

On La Palma, he founded the town of Santa Cruz de La Palma (at
first called Villa del Apurión) on May 3, 1493.[1]

On July 21, 1509 he had transferred his titles and rights of the
African coast, acquired in 1499, to his son, Pedro Fernández de Lugo, who
later participated in expeditions to the New World.[6]

D. Felix Alberto Lugo III, Rightful current successor of the
title "Adelantado of the Canary Islands Tenerife and La Palma,
Captain General of the coast of Africa" as confirmed by Emperor
Charles V (King Charles I of Spain) as an inherited title on August
17, 1519 in Barcelona.[9]